Story telling seems an appropriate place
to start the learning process for adults because it is likely a practice they
already engage in. The pervasiveness of
story-telling connects all cultures together and identifies a common trait
shared throughout humanity. Our stories are different, perhaps, but we all have
them. Perhaps the most important aspect
of story-telling is that in telling and re-telling stories about life
experiences, the story becomes an object available for analysis by the
story-teller. The story-teller is then able to use perceive their own
experience in a more analytic way which could lead to a better understanding of
their “self” and their “self’s” relationship to the larger context of the
world. It is a way of reflecting, from a distance, on events that you have
lived. That reflective process is
integral to the kind of transformational learning that allows people to
objectively view and, perhaps, alter the circumstances of their lives.
Story-telling also has a way of evening
the field between the members involved in the group. Students who might be
reticent about participating in learning practices in the group for affective
reasons, or because perceived unequal power dynamics make them seem vulnerable
to judgement or ridicule, could become more comfortable and open to the
learning environment once they have gotten to know the people in the group
through stories. The commonality among
experiences of diverse groups of people never ceases to amaze me. Everyone has
loved someone; lost someone; has a story about their mother, father or children;
everyone is from somewhere and has stories connected to that place. Of course,
story-telling as a learning event must be connected to the reflective process
in order for it to be effective. It’s not really about the story; it’s about
what you can learn from your story and how that learning relates to the
learning experiences of other people in the group.
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